Executives across industries take varying amounts of vacations throughout their careers, and they have different perspectives on this topic.
For Seifi Ghasemi, chair, president and CEO of Air Products, an Allentown, Pa.-based industrial gases company founded in 1940, his passion for his work is a contributing factor.
Mr. Ghasemi told Fortune he hasn't taken a vacation since the 35th anniversary of his wedding to his wife, Ellen, whom he married in 1971.
"I love what I'm doing," he said. "I do not have any other hobbies."
Before joining Air Products, Mr. Ghasemi served more than a decade as chair and CEO of Rockwood Holdings, a Princeton, N.J.-based company focused on lithium and advanced materials for electric vehicle manufacturing, according to his biography on the Air Products website. Speciality chemicals company Albemarle Corp. acquired Rockwood Holdings about a decade ago. Mr. Ghasem told Fortune he was an early believer in electric vehicles and went on to Air Products because of its focus on hydrogen.
Vacation time has been a topic of discussion among healthcare executives. Several leaders defended vacation time in response to a LinkedIn post last year from Sachin Jain, MD, about his experience. Dr. Jain — now CEO of SCAN Group and SCAN Health Plan — wrote in the post that he received a call from his boss during his vacation years back during which his boss recommended he take shorter vacations in the future.
"I always think about how often no one notices when you're grinding away for a company or cause," Dr. Jain wrote. "Take your vacations. Don't be a martyr. Almost no one notices your martyrdom."
Dr. Jain's story now has more than 2,250 likes and 167 comments.
Across industries, a July 2023 survey from executive search firm Korn Ferry cited by The Wall Street Journal found more than half of executives said they planned to take a longer vacation that summer than in the past. But half of the nearly 300 professionals polled indicated they connect with work at least once a day while on vacation.
Mr. Ghasemi, with Air Products, told Fortune the hydrogen energy revolution — a movement toward cleaner energy sources by 2050 — keeps him motivated at work.
"Believe me, I have more energy, and I travel more, and I work harder than when I was 40 years old," he said. "I don't think just the numbers tell people's age. I really enjoy doing what I'm doing."